Bargemusic to Present TOKYO TO NEW YORK Concerts

Bargemusic Here and Now Series presents "Tokyo to New York." The concert will feature premiers composed or arranged for critically acclaimed clarinetist and hichiriki player Thomas Piercy by Tokyo- and NYC-based composers. Mr. Piercy will be joined in the concert by one of Japan's leading classical and contemporary pianists, Noritaka Ito. The music - in a wide variety of styles - includes premiers by Ned Rorem (Pulitzer- and Grammy-Award), Fernando Otero (Latin-Grammy Award); Toshio Hosokawa (Suntory Music Award), Yuichi Matsumoto (Takemitsu Award), Masatora Goya (Jerome Fund Award), and Senri Oe (major Japanese pop-star, now NYC-based jazz composer). Other premiers on the program are by Japanese composers Tomo Hirayama, Kaito Nakahori, Atsushi Yoshinaka; and premiers by NYC-based composers Trevor Bachman, Peri Mauer, Gene Pritsker, and David Wolfson. Many of the composers will be in attendance; pianist Ito and several of the composers will travel from Japan for the concert.

Since 2005, Thomas Piercy has lived in both NYC and Tokyo and has had the opportunity to work with all the Japanese and American composers programmed in these concerts. The "Tokyo to New York" concerts include a wide variety of styles of music, from Japanese avant-garde to American contemporary classical, minimalism, neo-Romantic, tango- nuevo, J-pop and jazz-influenced pieces.

"Tokyo to New York" is a series of concerts in Tokyo and New York City that celebrates, honors and recognizes the connections between Tokyo and New York City. Since 2012, "Tokyo to New York" concerts, with Thomas Piercy and his U.S. and Japanese colleagues, have presented over 50 World Premiers composed for Piercy. The concerts feature new works composed for Western classical instruments as well as traditional Japanese instruments.

Performers Piercy and Ito as well as Composers Oe, Goya, Otero, and Yoshinaka are available for interview (in English and Japanese) to discuss "Tokyo to New York" concerts.